Dr Katz

By now the hairs that were loss due to "shock loss" should be growing back. With magnification your surgeon or another hair transplatnation physician should be able to evaluate at what stage of regrowth the hairs are in. It can take up to 1 year to see the results of the procedure as well as the regrowth of the shocked hairs. 375 transplants is not a large number of grafts so the amount of shock loss is a little surprising. Always feel free to get a second opinion to evaluate your position. See a surgeon who specializes in hair restoration or check out the ISHRS web site or the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery site for recommendations.

I would like to note several things for you and please remember that these are not directed at your doctor but some doctors in general. You results are NOT because of the SmartLipo, per se. Any form of liposuction/liposculpture is a toold - whether it is done by tradiotal liposuction, Vaser, ultrasonic, laser assisted (SmartLipo,Pro Lipo, Slim Lipo, etc), tumescent or any combintation of the above. These are just tools and it is up to the surgeon to utilize those tools to the best advantage and to chose the ones which in his/her hands can achieve a goal as close as possible to what the patient desires. And it is important for the doctor to ask YOU what Your goals are, and not project and tell you what they should be.

You did not have bumps or hard spots to begin with, so it was not genetic. Fluid does not harden; scar tissue and necrosed fat hardens. Any patient should ask questions of their surgeons - what is your background training in medicine/surgery? There are many physicians doing liposculpture, by what ever form, who have never trained in surgery, let along body contouring surgery. How long have you been doing this and what is your training? Again, some physicians take a week end course (or less) and are doing these procedures. Can I see pictures or talk with patients who have had the procedure done?

Check out the stories on RealSelf about the "Lifestyle lift" and the NY attorney general. Your surgeon should be trained in all aspects of body contouring to include the surgical aspect, liposuction (and it's many forms or "tools" as described above. Lasers are not cure alls but can be very beneficial under the right circumstances - limited areas of bulging of fat, limited laxity or drooping of skin, etc. A surgeon with many tools in his arsenal can pick the one which will be most beneficial to you and your anatomical presentation. This is usally a board certified plastic surgeon. They have extensive training in body scultpuring AND in the psychological aspects of body image. If your goals and expectations are beyond what even the best surgeon can accomplish, then you should not have the surgery and an ethical surgeon will tell you he cannot accomplish this. That doesn't mean that complications don't occur with even the best plastic surgeon. But he/she is equipped to deal with them when they occur and more importantly, because of their training, decrease the incidence or risk of it happening to begin with.